In the seventh, Rosario lined an 0-1 pitch to center before completing his night with a run-scoring single to center in the ninth.

“Whenever he stays up the middle with his approach, you know he’s on,” Lopez added. “The main thing for him right now is to control the strike zone and have better at-bats, and make sure he’s up the middle with his approach. We want him to get to know the zone a little better and he’s doing well with it.”

“It’s similar in a lot of ways (to the Sixers’ process) and I know [Sam Hinkie], he used to be in Houston. He and I have talked a lot about what he was doing here and what I was doing there — there are a lot of analogies. You have to be patient to wait for the results to manifest themselves. Sometimes you get a good roll of the dice, sometimes you don’t.”

The Dodgers are the model big-market team right now. They need to win the World Series to be fully appreciated, however.

The top farm system in 2015? The Cubs, the 2016 World Series champs. Not counting the Cubs since it’s been too recent — of all the teams with the top farm system, all but three have been in the playoffs at least three times within five years of being named the top farm system. Those three were the 2006 Diamondbacks, National League West winners in 2007 and 2011, the 2014 ...

A new use for baseball slang has been found. The story is told by a writer describing the experiences of Americans inside the German lines…It was necessary that one American having knowledge of [the news] should acquaint another with what was going on, but the Germans were on watch, listening for every word.
...
[An American said to another:] “Nix on any of these spangled delicatessens (German officers) getting wise, but the umpire-in-chief has chased Heinie out ...

“Before the game today, I think I need to change my playlist because I get a little fired up from my playlist,” said Harper, citing a mix of Logic and Chance the Rapper as the instigator.

” ‘5AM’ really got me fired up, by Logic. I called my brother and was like, ‘Man, I’m so fired up to play today,’ ” Harper said. “I guess it got me a little too fired up. I guess I need to mix in some Temptations and some of those jazz bands to calm me down a little bit.”

Not all sports require absolute uniformity in their playing fields. Some allow and even celebrate degrees of variation. All baseball parks consist of the diamond (a square, technically) in which the locations and dimensions of the bases, pitcher’s mound, batter’s boxes, and other features are strictly standardized, and the outfield, for which Major League Baseball specifies only minimum dimensions (325 feet along the first base and third base lines and 400 ...

Tartabull, 54, called police to report that his car was broken into, according to TMZ Sports. When cops arrived and ran Tartabull’s name and saw there was a warrant out for his arrest, they promptly collared him.

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

There are plenty of sound business reasons why it would have been wise anyway to keep Tebow away from Citi Field as some kind of marketing ploy, beginning with the very credibility of the franchise, which is supposed to be in the business of developing baseball players, not carnival barkers.

But now the Mets have the best reason of all to forget about that.

What if Tebow really is what these last 27 games and 87 at-bats have hinted at? In the Florida State League, the most advanced level of ...

“It was just one of those things where there was a little confusion in where initially the pitcher spot in the double switch was at,” Roberts said. “A player that was supposed to be out of the game was still in the game, and I just wanted to get clarity and make sure that the pitcher was in the right spot.”

2. One trading partner might be more motivated to make a deal than the other.

In the offseason, even a rebuilding team can justify keeping its players, knowing that they’ll have another chance to cash in at the trade deadline (and that they might sell some season tickets in the meantime). But the Tigers, pretty much out of contention and about to see Martinez hit free agency, had almost no choice but to move him.

They could have tried waiting to see if another buyer emerged—either because ...

When the Yankees made their big trade last week for Tommy Kahnle, David Robertson and Todd Frazier, the rationale was to acquire pitchers who can help them beyond 2017. This is true for Gray, as well. He would help their chances of making the playoffs this year and of winning in the postseason, as Gray is known as a big-stage performer after his strong October showing against the Tigers as a rookie. And he would also help the Yankees’ chances in 2018 and 2019, before he finally reaches free ...

As far as is known, Pitcher John Miljus of the Brooklyn club is the first major leaguer to be called to the colors via the draft route. Miljus…was ordered yesterday to present himself for examination tomorrow morning.

Strange that the first big leaguer to be drafted to serve in WWI would be known as “The Big Serb”.

In other news on the same page of the Pittsburgh Press, White Sox first baseman Chick Gandil has filed bankruptcy. I think I know a way Gandil can ...